Look at your watch. If it is Swiss, there is a good chance it is only there because of Dr. Nicholas G. Hayek Sr., who passed away yesterday at the age of 82, working in his office in Biel. His heart stopped.

Dr Hayek was born in 1928 in Beirut, Lebanon and had moved to Switzerland as a young man where after an education in chemistry and physics, held together by mathematics (University of Lyon – France), he formed his own firm Hayek Engineering.

Do you recall the 1970’s when suddenly everyone wanted to have quartz timing in their watch? The Japanese brands of Seiko and Citizen were booking solid sales year after year, why even the film character James Bond has ceased wearing a Swiss timepiece in favor of a Pulsar or Seiko Digital Quartz watch. Digits were in and hands were out! It really looked as though the game was up and time had run out for the Swiss watch industry as the old mechanical, analogue timepieces were being undercut in price and availability.

In the early 1980’s, with no hope in sight and with Japanese watch-making giants readily looking to buy up and revamp old brands, a government-appointed group of Swiss banks hired Mr. Hayek to evaluate and report on how the Swiss watch manufacturers would be most effectively sold.

What happened next is regarded as business folklore and should be a case study at every self-respecting management school. Hayek completely ignored his brief and he set about merging two of the domestic industriy leaders, Asuag and SSIH, and acquired for himself a majority stake in the new group now called Société Suisse de Microélectronique et d’Horlogerie or SMH.

His next step was to make a two-pronged attack on the market. Working with what he had, which was control of famous brands such as Omega, Longines and Tissot plus the more exclusive Breguet and Blancpain he announced a doubling of prices and moved to emphasize the words “Swiss” or “Swiss Made” at the bottom of the dial. Thie term, which dated from the nineteenth century, played on the heritage of the traditional industry. At once these traditional watches became more exclusive. That alone was not enough. Tradition needed a cash cow upon which to lean and, so in 1983, arguably the biggest event in watch marketing,occurred when “SWATCH” was introduced. It was a plastic watch offered in a wild rainbow range of colors comprising just fifty-one parts and powered by a battery and a quartz crystal. The new brand became iconic and given the price --$35-- and the range of colours it became a fashion accessory to be matched with shoes and clothing. It marked the first time that many consumers actively thought about owning more than just one watch.

SMH became known simply as “Swatch” in 1985 and began creating limited edition plastic watches that had an Olympics theme. After all Swatch owned Omega which had been the traditional timekeeper of the summer games dating back to 1932. Japan's Seiko was the official timekeeper of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and given that the Olympic window was a marketing opportunity Swatch decided that it would be a good idea to introduce Swatch as the new official timekeeper of the Olympics as a way of representing the creativity and initiative present in the Swiss watch industry in the 1990’s. Swatch watches were official timekeepers of the 1996 and 2000 Olympic games held in Atlanta and Sydney. For the Atlantic games in 1996 the timing of the races among other things was governed by the parent Swatch, whereas, in Sydney, in 2000, it reverted to Omega, one of the watches in the Swatch group.

Eight years ago, when he was 74, Dr Hayek stepped down as the Swatch Group’s chief executive officer, handing the reins to his son, Nicolas Jr. It is a family affair as his daughter Nayla sits on the company’s board. The company widened its reach with the “Flick Flack” brand to help children learn the time. It also introduced a istylish jewellery range “Bijoux”.

Over time Swatch itself has been lifted upward by its own success with new artist designed limited-edition pieces created by noted artists like Keith Haring. In 1992 a Swatch by Kiki Picasso, a pseudonym of the French artist Christian Chapiron, sold at auction at Christie’s in London for $28,000.

If ever one needed verification of the successful turnaround in the Swiss watch industry’s fortunes, look no further than to the most iconic and enduring of big screen heroes, James Bond. 007 has returned to wearing a Swiss watch. The secret agent has ditched Japan not for the most recognized Swiss brand, Rolex, a privately held entity, but for an Omega. It is part of the Swatch Group, it is the only watch to have been worn on the moon and I for one am not about to argue with 007 whose timing is never less than perfect.